Homeward Bound’s 2000th client moves into her own home!

Homeward Bound on March 15, 2019

The Struggle is Real.

April is a single mom with two teenage daughters who were homeless for six years. She grew up with a single mother who experienced domestic violence and struggled to find healthy ways to cope and keep her children safe. April also experienced relationship violence as an adult and created similar hardships for her and her children.

April had to live separately from her daughters because she did not have a permanent home.

April lived in and out of shelters in Asheville while working at a local motor lodge. Shelters felt like a prison to April, waiting for lockers and showers and strict bedtimes so, often, she lived on the streets. Homelessness required her to walk all night and stay awake to withstand the coldness of winter.

April’s Daughter Comes to Town

April’s oldest daughter texted her in June of 2018 to say she wanted to live with her. April had been staying at a local shelter, but they wouldn’t take in the 17-year-old. Rather than be separated again, April and her daughter began sleeping in their Jeep in church parking lots. They acquired many trespassing tickets throughout the winter time while April’s daughter was recovering from pneumonia. The Jeep was finally towed, along with all of their personal belongings. Throughout this time, April and her daughter continued to go to AHOPE for showers, charging their cell phones, snacks, and other needed services.

On January 29, Homeward Bound Case Manager Amanda moved April and her family into their very own home. With a letter from Homeward Bound saying they were housed, the courts dropped the trespassing charges they received while living in their car.

April wants people to know that ‘the struggle is real’ and that there aren’t enough shelters for single mothers or fathers with children. She and her daughters had to wait over four months for their apartment because three bedroom units are few and far between.

April (left) and her case manager Amanda (center). Her daughter is featured on the right.

She also explains that working full time or even part-time, and living on the streets, is virtually impossible when you are trying to keep your family together and safe. Now that they have moved into their own home, they are making plans for the girls to continue their education and for April to get back to work.

Life is on the upswing!

Homeless No More

Homeward Bound on June 6, 2018

“We loved helping Michele move into her new home. I can’t wait to do this again for someone else.” Shannon Paris and her coworkers at Keller Williams helped end homelessness for a neighbor earlier this month. They collected furniture and home goods, delivered it on the chosen day, and helped Michele set everything up.

Life Changing

Those of us who work at Homeward Bound know first – hand how life-changing it is when someone experiencing homelessness settles into a new home. We can’t end homelessness alone though, and we love to bring other people and groups into the process whenever we can.

Move-ins

Sponsored move-ins are a great way for groups to get involved. Lenoir-Rhyne University (Asheville) spent the spring semester getting together furniture and thinking of touches that could really bring home a veteran experiencing homelessness. Then they scheduled a good day to bring the furniture and get in their workout carrying and arranging everything. A Thrivent Action Team gift card added extra support.

The ALOFT hotel staff just completed their fourth sponsored move-in and it’s great team building for their employees.  One team member told us, “This is the most meaningful day of my year.” We also got to discover General Manager David McCartney’s skills driving a moving truck and making beds.

Everyone can get involved

Even younger folks can get involved! Students from the Rainbow Community School recently held two fundraisers to be able to buy household items that folks need when they move into new homes. They also worked on budgeting and went to the grocery store to buy as many items as they could. We’re proud that they’re taking action to improve our community. Thanks to all the parents and teachers for supporting this initiative!

We’d love for you, your family, or your group to be a part of a sponsored move-in! See our sponsored move-in page for more details or email Ashley Campbell, Welcome Home Project Director, at ashley@homewardboundwnc.org. Together we can end homelessness, one neighbor at a time!

“Homeward Bound moved me to the front burner and set me on high.”

Homeward Bound on May 18, 2018

Last year Harry moved from a shelter to his own home through his work with us. We interviewed him to understand what the experience was like and what’s happening in his life now.

“A year ago, during the winter months, around January and February I was living in the shelter. I had arthritis in my feet and hands real bad. I got in touch with Homeward Bound and they helped me set a course because I didn’t have the money for an apartment and to get my life on track.

This is the first place I’ve ever had of my own. I’ve always rented a room. This is my little home now. The people who live around me here, we’re all close neighbors and we get on good. There’s no violence or crime around here. We all have a sense of humor. I prank them. I have to keep them on their toes. I see them in the evening and it’s just like a family coming home from a day’s work. I go out there and holler at them. I get them cranked up. Having a place is good for me.

When people ask how I got my place, I tell them, ‘I went to the Lord and the Lord led me to Homeward Bound.’ It all came in one picture and when it did, it showed me the better side that I could live and how to leave the side I didn’t want to be in anymore. Every morning I was waking up and not knowing where my next meal would be coming from or waking up in the morning and wanting a cold Mountain Dew and not having the money in my pocket to do it. I was getting hungry during the day or wanting to lay down and you’d have to go find a bush somewhere. I don’t have to do that anymore. I can get in my bed to lay down or sit in my chair.

I have my own little place where I feel comfortable and safe. I’m a yard person anyway. It’s warming up. I’ll be out sitting out there in the yard, talking with my friends, and just enjoying life having a home. The yard is nice with the trees and the lawn. I used to sit in my grandmother’s yard out there all the time. They wouldn’t let you in the house. We were kids. We couldn’t leave the yard. I’d get sleepy and go to sleep in one of the chairs out in the sun. I do that now the same way as when I was a little kid. The sun is good for the body. I sit out there two or three hours every day and enjoy the sun.

Now I just want to get closer to the Lord. I don’t want much. Everybody can use more money, don’t get me wrong. I only ask for what the Lord gives me and I’m content with that. I’m as happy as a little pea in a pod. Homelessness is just a miserable thing to go through. I went to Homeward Bound and I asked them to help me. They were the only people I asked. They told me six to eight weeks. I got a place in five weeks. I know they’ll always be there because they told me that. They’re beautiful people. I haven’t seen any ugly people. That’s a figure of speech.

When I was around 30 I couldn’t get a place because I had a felony. People would put me on the back burner. Homeward Bound moved me around to the front burner and set me on high. They go through a lot of people in a day. They helped me with my food stamps and a lot of things. If they can do it, they do it all. They get you situated in a place where you feel comfortable. I could have moved if I wanted to, but I want to stay here because it’s my home. I hope I get to live here a long, long, long time. I hope it’s a long time before the Lord calls my number. You don’t have all this agony and weight on your shoulders. I couldn’t feel any better when I get up in the morning.”

No One Left Outside

Homeward Bound on October 13, 2017

“No one left outside” describes our commitment to finding a housing solution for every person experiencing homelessness, starting with people who have been chronically homeless and benefit from added support. Our Woodfin Apartment project began in April 2016 and has already shown great success in ending homelessness for the residents there and reducing public costs related to emergency medical services and incarceration. Find out more from staff and residents involved in the project from this video:

Hope Despite a Rise in Homelessness

Homeward Bound on June 26, 2017

Mary Jo Powers, Executive Director

Every year for 24 hours on the last Wednesday in January, nonprofit and community leaders fan out across the state to conduct a “point-in-time count” of our neighbors experiencing homelessness. This happens in shelters, transitional housing programs, on the streets, and at campsites.

The numbers just came out and the total homeless population in Buncombe County rose from 509 in 2016 to 562 in 2017. Because of federal rules, the count includes people staying in transitional housing as homeless. There were a total of 222 individuals in transitional housing the night of the 2017 count, including 178 veterans. That means that 340 people were staying in shelters, in cars, or on the streets.

Homeward Bound housed 407 people experiencing homelessness in Buncombe and Henderson Counties in 2016. We use the nationally-recognized best practice model of Housing First: moving people into housing as a first step, then surrounding them with an appropriate level of support. Besides providing rental assistance, our housing case managers help them address employment, mental illness, substance abuse, physical health, and other stability issues.

Over the past 11 years, 89 percent of the more than 1,750 people that Homeward Bound has moved into housing have remained housed.

Given that Homeward Bound moved nearly 400 people into housing last year, what does this point-in-time count tell us about Asheville and Buncombe County? First and foremost, we have a severe shortage of affordable housing. In recent years, we have had a functional 0 percent vacancy rate in affordable housing. Coupled with a very large gap between wages and housing costs, it is a tribute to the efforts by the city, county, VA Medical Center and private service agencies that the number of homeless persons is not significantly higher.

The lack of affordable housing also affects homeless veterans. There are currently 23 unsheltered veterans in our county, 20 of whom have been assessed and have a housing plan. They could be in housing immediately, but we have not yet found available units for them.

With the recent passage of an affordable housing bond and changes in city planning and zoning, a number of affordable housing projects are underway or in pre-development. But housing isn’t built overnight. It will take some time to see an effective difference.

At Homeward Bound we are planning for the future with great hope. We have developed strategic initiatives during the past six months to address many of the issues that are now reflected in the point-in-time count.

One goal is to offer a homelessness prevention and diversion program through our AHOPE Day Center. Using the Housing First model, we’ve moved many people out of homelessness, but to end it, we need an effective intervention to prevent homelessness before people enter the system.

Overall, we prioritize ending chronic homelessness in our housing programs. Our new housing option for 18 of the highest-needs, chronically homeless persons who previously had difficulty staying in housing just marked its first year and the housing retention rate for this program is 100 percent. Based on its success, we are initiating conversations with developers to create at least 100 additional housing units, which should end chronic homelessness in our community when built or procured.

The annual point-in-time count is a valuable tool for everyone concerned about homelessness. For those of us working to end homelessness, the count results allow us to review our programs and priorities, strengthen our best practices, and examine the systemic forces that create homelessness.

With the best practices of assessing each person experiencing homelessness, using the Housing First model followed by appropriate support, and a community-wide commitment to substantially increase our stock of affordable housing, we have cause for hope and renewed dedication to ending homelessness.

Click here to see the original version of this article, printed in the Asheville Citizen-Times.